Call of Cthulhu vs Candela Obscura
Compare Call of Cthulhu and Candela Obscura side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Call of Cthulhu | Candela Obscura | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Horror, Modern | Horror |
| Play Style | Investigation, Deadly, One-Shot Friendly, Atmospheric, Roleplay-Heavy, Mystery, Horror, Corruption, Skill-Based | Horror, Investigation, Narrative, Fiction-First, Atmospheric, Character-Driven, Playbook-Driven, Mission-Based, Corruption, Collaborative, Drama, Roleplay-Heavy |
| Core Mechanic | Roll d100 equal to or under your skill percentage. Success tiers at half (Hard) and one-fifth (Extreme) of the skill value. Bonus and penalty dice adjust the tens digit. Failed rolls can be pushed for a second attempt at greater risk. | Roll a pool of d6s equal to your action rating (0–3), take the highest result. A 6 is a full success, 4–5 is a mixed success, 1–3 is a miss. Spend Drive points (Nerve, Cunning, or Intuition) to add dice. Gilded actions replace one die with a special gilded die — choosing its result recovers 1 Drive. The GM sets stakes (low, standard, or high) and expectations before each roll. |
| Dice | d100 | d6 dice pool |
| Complexity | Medium | Low |
| Accessibility | Medium | Medium |
| Runnability | High | High |
| License | Chaosium Fan Material Policy | Darrington Press Community Gaming License |
| Cost | $$ | $$ |
| Publisher | Chaosium | Darrington Press |
| Year | 2014 | 2023 |
| Best For | Investigation-driven horror where combat is deadly and sanity is fragile. Great for one-shots. | Groups who want atmospheric horror investigation with narrative-first mechanics, where supernatural corruption slowly erodes characters across a series of assignments. |
| Highlights | Sanity system mechanically reinforces horror tone. Intuitive percentile skill system with tiered success levels. One of the largest published scenario libraries in the hobby. | Gilded dice create meaningful risk-reward tension on every roll, Drive system elegantly ties character resources to narrative themes, assignment structure gives the GM a clear framework for pacing, marks and scars make supernatural exposure feel consequential |
| Considerations | Chase rules add complexity with limited payoff, 46-skill list requires point allocation across multiple categories, sanity spiral can remove player agency in extended campaigns | No free core rules — only a free quickstart guide is available, setting is tightly bound to the Fairelands world, limited character customization compared to Blades in the Dark, combat is intentionally de-emphasized in favor of investigation and social play |